The Brisbane Lions are determined to bolster their involvement in women’s football with CEO Greg Swann confirming the Club will bid for an AFL licence for the inaugural season in 2017.
The Club’s board approved the lodgement of an application which was submitted to the AFL on Wednesday.
Swann said having Queensland’s team based in Brisbane made sense given the capital had the highest female football participation numbers for the state.
“There’s a real groundswell of support both inside and outside the club to make sure we are represented in the first-ever women’s competition,’’ Swann said.
“We’ve always been very interested in being part of it.’’
Swann’s executive assistant at the Lions is two-time QWAFL best-and-fairest winner and Coorparoo premiership captain Emma Zielke.
Zielke and fellow Queenslanders Tayla Harris, Jordan Zanchetta, Emily Bates and Leah Kaslar played in the AFL exhibition games between Melbourne and Western Bulldogs this year.
The exhibition games have been a success for the AFL with one of the matches this year out-rating an Essendon-Adelaide match.
Swann said with the top-end talent in Brisbane that has been nurtured by Queensland Female Football High Performance Coach Craig Starcevich, the Lions would be highly competitive in the national competition.
